Rain in the Storm
by GoodbyeCrimson
Summary: Rain never had a name, not before he met Jasdevi. In return for giving him the one thing he always lacked, the level 2 akuma decides to take mending Jasdevi and Tyki's broken relationship into his own hands.
1. Chapter 1

[_Author's note:_ I know that in Japan Jasdero's twin's name was Devitto, or something like that, but for god knows why his name was changed to "David" in the American manga. Since I've only read the American manga, I kept his name as "David", but I know that must be annoying if you're not a fan of the American manga and read the direct Japanese translations offline. Sorry for any inconvenience. ^^U]

The rain was ravenous that day. It was hungry for chaos, it longed to make everything sopping wet. To leave not a single leaf spared, or even one lonely child without the shivers. The rain was unforgiving, and I couldn't imagine why. _Are you jealous, dear sky?_ I thought to ask, yet kept the words locked away behind my lips. Better not.

"If you stand out there too long, you'll get a cold." My mistress giggled, leaning out the window with an impish smirk.

"Akuma don't get colds." I didn't know if it was true or not, but it seemed responsible enough.

"You will if you stay out there too long."

"Let it stay, Road, it doesn't matter." I heard another voice sigh from deeper within the mansion.

"_It". I hate being called that but... it's not like it's fair to give me a gender, either. I'm a product of sorrow that lives on carnage, that's all. I'm a machine of the Noah... a servant of the Earl... _I thought bitterly, letting the rain roll of my cheeks and soak my chin-length dusty brown hair. Sometimes, when the Earl wasn't commanding me to devour the blood of the innocent, I would stare at myself in the mirror. Me. Nameless, genderless me. After a few seconds, stories would always formulate in my overly imaginative brain. This skin I wear, who did it belong to? Who was it that called upon the Earl in their darkness hour and gave their life to create me? Me. Nameless, genderless, me.

_It could have been a lover. _I would speculate. _This body looks around sixteen, so he could have given his life to save a girlfriend or something... that seems like something a teenager would do. _Two dinner plate sized eyes would gaze back at me in thought. _Or maybe I don't give this body enough credit... perhaps he wanted to bring his beloved mother back to life... or his pet cat._ The thought of a cat almost made me chuckle. _Can akuma even be made from cats? It's not like I know everything about my kind... but... imagine that, having the soul of a cat! _I would hide my pleased expression, slipping out of the bathroom before any of the Noah caught me in there, in the horrid act of being inanely human.

_Eliade was too human for her own good._ A fat drop of water hit my eyelid, sliding down my face like one rouge tear. _That's what they said, anyway. She cared a lot about being gorgeous. She __**was**__ beautiful, though... she stayed in the same house for a long time, until the day she stopped coming back... I wonder how you died, Eliade... you were the closest thing I had to a friend and yet... I never knew you much beyond your name..._

My eyes shot upwards, as if instinctively looking to where Eliade soul may lie. _No, that's wrong._ I smiled bitterly. _We akuma don't have souls of our own, we are the results of someone else's soul and the Earl's handiwork, no products of God like man. When we die, we disappear. That's just the way it goes. _Though no one had ever outlined the fate of akuma to me explicitly, I could deduct most of it on my own. Weapons. No more, no less. Nameless, genderless weapons.

"What're you _doing_ out here?" A new voice was added to the melody of the ragging rain. More accusing than questioning, I knew that whoever it was wasn't going to offer me a warm cup of coco and a clean towel to dry off.

"Yeah, heh heh." Another voice followed.

"Oh, good afternoon." I spun around to face the two teenagers, giving them a bow and straighting myself back up. "May I be of assistance, Lord Jasdevi?" Jasdevi wasn't like the other Noah or the Earl for that matter. The two misfits were loud and obnoxious, and if one wasn't throwing a temper tantrum than the other was crying or cursing or throwing_ something_ at _someone_. There was no great evil behind the pounds of black eye makeup the boys used, not like with Tyki, who could make my blood-or at least the blood oil I run on, go cold. They weren't brutes like Skin, nor did they bare the sweet elegance of Road. They were, in most manners, normal teenage boys.

"Well, what the hell are you doing?" David raised one of his eyebrows, lowering the other in order to shoot me an annoyed look.

"I was standing out here." I answered plainly.

"You trying to be funny or something?" David scowled, moving his slivery hand gun from the side of his brother's head to the front of mine.

"Yeah, heh heh!" Jasdero snickered along. I had witnessed this same scene many times. An akuma maid didn't make Skin's lunch sweet enough, so she was killed. An akuma made a mistake, so the Earl did away with them. It wasn't a rare occurrence, but the fact that my life could be so easily ended by th very person I serve never crossed my mind. I began to panic, as I often do, the gray pallet of my world swirling together, the mouth of the gun freezing as it pressed against my wet forehead.

_I've lived a good life._ I wished I could truly think that, truly believe that I had satisfied my "happiness requirement" for my lifetime and could pass over peacefully and soundlessly. _That would be a lie._ The harsh truth pierced any idealistic daydreams I could summon to ease the impeding threat of death. _I've killed many people-I've taken solace in the deaths of others. Not just in this rain, but in rains of blood I've found comfort and excitement but... it never lasts long. The people die and then I'm on my own again, without any real purpose but to look forward to the next time I get to kill, the next time I get to be thrown to the battlefield as a nameless pawn._

"N-n-no." I finally managed to stutter out. "I don't mean to mock you, my lord!" _Or would it be lord__**s**__...there are two of them, but they talk as if they're one person, calling them selves Jasdevi... no no no! This is no time to be fretting over grammar! Like Jasdevi would even notice if I slaughtered the English language! _My mind got ahead of me once more, it's bad habit kicking in. Thinking about life when I'm birthed from death, thinking about pasts when all I should look to is the present... my mind was a troublesome thing, running a muck far more than my proper-manners-only mouth ever could.

"What should we do?" Jasdero, who was always hunched over, looked up at his brother with curious golden eyes.

"I dunno." David shrugged, lowering the gun from my face and pointing it back at his twin. "It's not like we have anything better to do." He looked up at the sky, the rain causing both his and Jasdero's makeup to run, cascading down their faces like a wave of black tears. "So," He looked back at me, "What _are_ you _doing_ out here, _other_ than standing?"

I thought carefully, knowing that if I answered incorrectly my next words could be my last. "The Earl didn't have anything for me to do, so I came out here. I like to stand in the rain." _"Like"... what a funny word. No one's ever asked me what I "like" to do before..._

"Nothing to do?" The two brothers shot each other confused looks. "You're an akuma, go kill some exorcists."

"The Earl didn't give me an order to." It seemed like a reasonable defense to me.

_"So?_" I flinched, looking away from his judgmental glare.

"I'm not going to go off and kill unless it's an order." I explained, keeping my voice soft and passive, hoping I wasn't prodding a hungry lion with a stick.

David sighed. "Akuma are weird."

"Yeah, weird! They're freaky!" Lord Jasdero giggled. He's the only boy I've ever met who can giggle like that, but none the less, he giggled.

"You got a name, akuma?" Lord David asked.

"A name? No, sir." _A name? Why did he ask me something like that? Eliade had a name, but she was a rare case. More than anyone, even some human girls, she had a gender. She was a __woman even if she was an akuma... but... I'm not like Eliade. I don't have a castle that I go away to, only this mansion, only the home of the Noah. Tyki never asks my name, neither do Skin and Road... I'm just... an akuma._

"Let's give him a name." Jasdero suggested, looking up at David.

"Good idea Jasdero." David smirked.

"Him"? A name? They were concepts I never thought could be applied to me. Were the twins too naive to see the difference between me and a normal human boy? No, they had called akuma freaky... So why, as the rain flattened Jasdero's bouncy blond hair and made a crying man out of the tough as nails David, did they decide to give me a name? Give me, nameless, genderless me, the two things that I truly lacked? My mind spun wondrous tails like a master seamstress, concocting the threads of stories at a rapid pace. _Maybe Jasdevi once knew someone who looked like me, but they died in battle and now they want to give me a name in order to remind them of their long lost friend! Or it could be that they hate me so much they want to come up with the ugliest name in all of the world and give it to me._

"Fantastico?"

"What?" I blinked.

"Fantastico, yeah, that's a great name, right Jasdero?" David grinned.

_So I guess it was the second one, huh._ Fantastico. Out of all the names I could be stuck with, I was going to get Fantastico.

"That's monstrous, really, Jasdevi." Tyki's voice isn't like other peoples. It's the kind of voice that makes you stop on the street and turn around, smooth and elegant, demanding of attention in it's laid back, seductive tones. With a voice like that, woman must throw themselves as Lord Tyki, must die just to be in his presence or kiss the ground he walked on. Die just for the chance to hear that beautiful voice acknowledge them. My voice is an akuma's voice. It's light and delicate for a boy's, but when I'm excited it comes out shrill and high, higher than Road's, even.

With such a voice, I couldn't help but look up at the window, the same one Road had been peering out of what seemed like an eternity ago. His hair, usually pushed back and neat, had fallen around his face in a perfect mess of black locks. The rain, daring to touch him as no human or akuma ever could, soaked his white button up shirt and caused it to stick to his body-the body of any girl's dreams.

I never thought of Tyki as a friend. If I was laying on the ground dying, I'd sooner lay and wait for a miracle than request his help. There's something unreachable about him, even in his most laid back moments when he takes out a cigarette and smokes while casually talking to Road, he is unreachable. His beauty is not something I have to search for in the depths of his character, nor be female to appreciate. His beauty is certain as his cruelty.

"Shut up. What kind of name is 'Tyki' anyway?" David snorted, giving Tyki the finger. For David, the gap between him and Tyki must have been nonexistent, carefree to commit an act even my wild brain would never dream of.

"Shut up!" Jasdero added.

"If you two get sick from standing out in the rain, the Earl will be upset." Tyki warned, ignoring their offensive behavior.

"We won't get sick!" David chuckled as if the very thought of illness was mad. "Right, Fantastico?" David grinned over at me.

Fantastico suddenly didn't seem like such a horrid name. It was someone recognizing me, giving me at least some small drop of an identity. One can't have a past if they don't have an identity. They can't have a future if they don't have a past. Yet in an instant, David had gifted me with all of these things. Mediocre as my past, present, and future were, they existed, and for the first time, I existed.

"O-of course not my lord." I agreed.

I could see a sweat drop roll down Tyki's face. "Fine. Do what you like, Jasdevi.. and _Fantastico_..." I felt my heart hiccup. My name. He had said it, even if it was only to show Jasdevi how utterly stupid it was, he had said it.

"Maybe we should go inside... I'm kind of cold." Jasdero sniffed once he was sure that Tyki was gone. Naturally Jasdero, clad in only a jacket and no shirt, was quicker to freeze than David in his heavy jacket and white shirt or I in my black butler style outfit. It wasn't anything special, but as many of the maids who tended to the Noah had been given dresses, I, too, had been given the attire of a butler.

"Alright." David agreed, kicking open the door of the mansion and waltzing in with Jasdero at his side and me trailing behind.

"Ah, jeez, let's go get something to dry off... we'll have to put more makeup on." David decided.

"I'll go get some towels." I jumped at the chance to make myself useful. I wanted to stay around them, to make myself as attached to them as I could. I wanted to hear them call my name, my hideous,_ hideous_ name. "If you tell me where you put your makeup I'll fetch you that as well."

"Alright." David gave no objection. "Our room is the last one on the right, the makeup is under our bed."

_Our bed? They sleep together? It's not like it's that odd, they __**are**__ always together... _I couldn't fathom the thought of being that close with another creature, be it human, akuma, Noah, or even animal. The only time I ever touched another living thing was when I was cutting it to bits in the midst of battle, never peaceful snoozing together.

I ran up the stairs, not wanting to keep the two twins waiting. Truth be told, I had never been in any of their rooms. So many rooms, all locked away with their own secrets and own deadly Noah, ready and more than capable of tearing me limp from limp. Inside the restrictions of the Noah family's house, I was a pitiful butler, sweeping the floors and dusting the huge metal clock in the living room that would always scare me when I was first born into the mansion, it's noisy "_ding dong_" echoing loud enough to break glass. Yet, in all my cleaning I had never entered even one of the private rooms. _Mistress Road's room is likely to be full of things that are all black and pink and frilly, and have all sorts of eerie dolls on the walls. _I would think. _Lord Tyki's room might be fancy, like the way he dresses, all neat and orderly without a single paper out of place... or it might be a pigsty, with books and clothes strewn all over the place and ashtrays staining the smell of smoke into the very walls. _

My hand wrapped around the handle to Jasdevi's room. My time for thinking was over. _Will it be neat...? No, I doubt it. It'll be a wreck, with the most random things thrown about. Will it be white or will the walls be painted? Do Jasdero and David have a favorite color? What would they do if I just up and asked them?_ My heart was beating with the rhythm of a bomb, my hand frozen around the door knob. _I've killed countless people and yet I can't even go inside a measly little room? No way... _

In one sharp motion, before I had time to second guess my actions, the door was flung open. I stumbled in, taking in the new surrounds. _Gray walls... I wouldn't have guessed that. _I took in every detail, from the messy state of the sheets, like the two boys had jumped of bed and never looked back, to the single lamp, the shade, oddly enough, laying on the opposite side of the room. _Why is it over there? _I pondered, going to retrieve the abandoned shade. I stuck it back in place, fixing it on just right. _Maybe they wore it as a hat... I've always wanted to try that... Who would have worn it, David or Jasdero...? Maybe they took turns..._

I bent down to my knees, pushing a fallen pillow out of the way and grasping onto the first thing my hand touched. From the dark underbelly of the bed I pulled out a shiny metal box with an unsightly dent in the side and a broken clasp. _I bet Road keeps her makeup in something cute, nothing like this... _I stuck my tongue out at the box. _Not the first thing one pictures when they hear the word "makeup". _

Reluctantly, not knowing if I would ever be given the honor to enter the room again, I left. I pulled the door shut behind me and scurried off the the bathroom. I took two towels, the mirror catching my eye before I could leave. _How many hours have I spent seeking the truths of my self within your lovely glass, dear mirror? _I paused. _I would question who this skin belonged to or whose soul I was created with. I would give them names and pasts, their stories all tragic because they all resulted in the failure creation of nameless, genderless me, but I never wondered what kind of name I would have if I were to be given one. Fantastico. Does it really suit me? _I inspected my own face with new eyes, eyes Jasdevi had gifted me with. My face was timid, shy and almost innocent with great round jade eyes and pale, fair skin. If I didn't know better, know of the secret weapons laying beneath the facade of a normal human, I would assume that I was weak, _puny_. Nothing fantastic, nothing glorious. Nothing deserving of the name Fantastico. _It's more of a damnation than a blessing, though. I might be the only living creature on all of Earth that rejoices at hearing people call me Fantastico._

I returned to the party I had left, the petite and almost fragile form of Road standing between me and the two teenagers. Her small frame was covered in lavender silk and lace, the simple gown looking divine against her gray skin.

For all the time I knew her, Eliade was always in heels. Not once had she dared grace the Earl's mansion in anything but, and I doubt she would let anyone lay eyes upon her if she wasn't propped up in her favorite pair of extra inches. Even though I wear the skin of a boy, I was always shorter than Eliade, always looking up to the cold eyed beauty... and yet, those shoes that kept her so high out of reach were no where to be found on the naked toes of Road. Her feet, bare on the account that she was in her own house, served her no height advantage over me. She looked tiny, _cute_, even. _I was always looking up to Eliade, she was always so much taller than me... yet Road, so short right now, so defenseless in her shear gown and chick-leg sized arms... how come I'm scared to even clear my own throat, to make myself known to the group? Those heels that made Eliade so tall... so tipsy and thin... maybe they were just making her fall that much harder..._Another story sprouted in my mind, the demise of celestial Eliade, fallen to Hell for her wickedness and sin. _I may not wear heels like Eliade... but my fate will be all the same._

"Are you going to stand there all day?" David pushed past Road and snatched the twin towels from my hands, Jasdero picking up the dented metal case.

"Oh, sorry." I felt my face brighten, hoping I hadn't given them a bad impression already.

"Oh?" Road turned to face me. "You're the one that was standing in the rain earlier." I nodded.

"He's the one we were just telling you about. His name is Fantastico." David chuckled, stuffing his handgun into his jacket so that he could dry his hair.

"Yeah, we picked it out." Jasdero added, his long golden blond hair frizzy from the rain.

"_Fantastico_? That's _**not**_ cute." Road giggled. "What about _Rain_?"

"Rain?" Jasdevi repeated.

"Well, that _is_ kind of edgy." David smirked. "It's an akuma name, yeah." Jasdero nodded. I felt lost in the group, like I had become some insignificant bystander that could have no impact on the conversation. My fate had been tossed to the three Noah, and whatever became of me was up to them. They were bored, so I had become their pawn. Simple enough.

"Fantastico Rain sounds way better." They bickered.

"No! Rain Fantastico!"

"We found him first!"

"No way! I saw him out my window!" Road pouted.

"Go play with that vagabond Tyki." David stuck his tongue out.

"Go play with Tyki!" Jasdero egged on.

"I want to play with Rain!" She moaned, "I want to dress him up all pretty. It's so rare to fine a boy doll that's cute."

_So I'm a doll now...? Did Road just call me cute...?!_

"Screw you Road, he's going to play poker with us."

"Do you even know how to play poker?"

"Do we?" Jasdero looked over at his brother.

"No, we don't." David replied.

"We don't." Jasdero nodded.

"That's why we gotta play with Rain, so that we'll learn!" David justified.

"Fine." Road gave in. "I guess I'll go play with Lero."

Once Road was gone, I found myself being dragged up the stairs, David grasping one of my arms and Jasdero latched to the other.

"Lord Jasdevi...!" I stammered.

"What, Rain?" Jasdero asked, his round golden eyes looking friendly to me for the first time.

"Thanks for the name." I thought to say, but I held it in. Better not.


	2. Chapter 2

I always thought that I was on the verge of breaking. My existence, with no past to support it, was like a flame caught in the wind, fighting back desperately with all it's might against the inevitable. My will was nothing prodigious, just a sorry speck when compared to the burning passion of the exorcists I was created to massacre. Surly, I had already began to fracture. Going so long with no indispensable will, no past to look back at or fellow to leave my mark on; surly I was fractured. My limit-how long I could hold out against the pressure, I wasn't sure, but I wondered if it would be longer than Jasdevi's window. The rain, assaulting the window with a barrage of wet bullets, was relentless. With the storm progressing as it was, we were lucky Jasdero had suggested coming inside.

David and Jasdero sat side by side on their bed, Jasdero holding a hand mirror as David applied his black eye makeup meticulously. _For such loud people, I never thought I'd see David pay such close attention to detail... I didn't think he was capable of sitting still for so long..._ It wasn't that I meant to insult Jasdevi, but rather I was both genuinely surprised and impressed.

While the two brother's worked on their makeup I sat on the ground, my clothes and hair still drenched. _I was in such a rush to get them towels I forgot to get one for myself._

"So, Rain," David began, "What's it like being an akuma? I've never _really_ talked to one before."

I paused. It's hard to describe what being an akuma is like when you don't know what it's like to be anything else. "It's alright." Nameless, genderless, hopeless. My expectations were too low if I was calling being an akuma "_alright_".

"What's your true form?" David pried.

_I seldom saw Eliade's true form... only twice did I actually lay eyes on her like that... Like her, I hate my "true form". There's no story behind it. When I have this face, I can wonder what kind of past went along with it...but... as an akuma, the best place I could have in a story is as the monster. _I thought before finally answering, "It's kind of tentacle_-ish_."

"Tentacle-ish?" Jasdero raised an eyebrow, David taking the mirror from him and handing him the garish box so that he could reapply his makeup as well.

"Yeah," I gestured my hands about, "Like snakes."

"Like snake or octopuses, they're different." David asked.

"Like both." I shrugged.

"Show us!" David grinned.

"Yeah! Yeah!" Jasdero cheered.

_It's not like I can say no to them...Besides, I don't detest my akuma form __**that**__ much, it is somewhat more comfortable then being in this petite form... but still... _I got to my feet, and sighed, preparing to shed my skin like a vile, akuma butterfly.

"Wait..." I paused at David's command. "Weren't we supposed to do something?"

"I dunno." Jasdero blinked.

"Yeah, there was something we wanted to do with Rain..."

"See him turn into an akuma?" Jasdero suggested.

"_Other_ than that..."

"Yeah..." The two sat in thought.

"I think you wanted to play poker." I reminded them with a gulp. _I hope I'm not being out of line..._

"Oh yeah!" David snapped his fingers. "That was it! Rain, get the cards."

There it was, that name again. I couldn't lie, I liked the way it sounded. It wasn't like Fantastico, which was cheesier than a grilled cheese. In a weird way, I thought it was fitting. The rain was always so tragic, so wistful in it's endless falling, like so many tears gushing from some lonely dejected soul up in Heaven. I, to the core of my essence, was built on sorrow. _My dear rain, I am honored to be named after you._ I shot a glance to the window. Even in it's harshness, the storm was only poignant, like the person who gave me life was. Clawing at the grave of a loved one, cursing both their fate and their beloved's, violent in their intense remorse. The rain could never be menacing to me, only poignant. _Am I full of malice? _I pondered. _No, not full of malice, and surely not evil. I am just doing as a weapon does, and I enjoy it because I'm a weapon, nothing more._

_"Rain! _C'mon, the cards!" David reminded me.

_I do love my name, but it will take some time getting used to... It seems so normal for people to call me "akuma" or "hey you" or "kid" or "boy"... but I'll adjust. I'll more than gladly adjust and trash all those other names... I'll incinerate all of those names for "Rain"._ I got to my feet, looking around the messy room.

"Um... where are the cards?" The twins blinked. Apparently I had posed a suitable question.

After a few minutes of the three of us fishing around the room, Jasdero came up with a pack of classic style ruby red backed playing cards, the kind one can buy at the store for only a dollar and find almost anywhere.

"OK, Rain." David and Jasdero moved down to the floor, sitting across from me so that we were all level. "How do we play?"

"I...I..." I felt myself begin to sweat. _I'm an akuma... when I'm not killing, which isn't all that often, I'm cleaning or daydreaming... I've never had the time to play cards, and even if I did, I wouldn't have anyone to play with... _"First you shuffle the deck." Jasdevi watched me with keen eyes. _They're buying it... _"Here, I'll do it." I reached out a careful hand, gently removing the cards from Jasdero' grasp and beginning to shuffle. It wasn't something anyone had taught me to do, it was just the type of thing that I knew. David and Jasdero watched in awe as the cards slapped each other, my fingers like magic as I placed the mixed deck on the ground in front of me.

"That's the same way Tyki does it." Jasdero commented.

"We never knew how, so whenever we play cards we just smash the cards together until we're sure they're all mixed up." David elaborated for me.

"Really? The deck looks pretty new and the cards are pretty firm, I would've guessed this was a brand new deck." I wondered if I was speaking out of turn. _That's the first thing I've said to them without being asked...but if they shuffle cards like that, it'd be a miracle if a deck lasted them more than one match..._

"It is." Jasdero told me simply, not noticing my folly.

"We bought it yesterday." David said.

"Oh, do you two like to play cards?" I pushed further. If they didn't mind me talking out of turn a little, I would just have to test my boundaries.

"We've played go-fish before." David shrugged, "and fifty-two pickup, but it's not like we do it that often."

"We want to learn poker." Jasdero explained.

"So you can play with Tyki?" I was high on conversation, a drug I rarely got my hands on. My mind was turning every sentence into a tail, typing each line down on one big novel. I grabbed at the first idea that came to me and ran with it, letting my thoughts spill out of my mouth without restraint.

"Like we'd fucking do that!" David cursed, his expression wavering between being pissed off by my accusation or laughing at it's idiocy. Jasdero gave a worried expression, followed by a sharp laugh. I was lost again, and the two twins weren't helping me find my way. "Look here, Rain," David told me, inching closer to me. "We're not doing this to get all close with that bum Tyki or anything. We're doing it to beat him."

"We'll beat him!" Jasdero declared.

"Tyki is here less than most of the Noah." David enlightened me, "Not just because he's on missions, because he has a whole other _life_. We've seen him, coming in here with his shitty pajama pants on and his swirly bug glasses... he acts like he's homeless, traveling and playing poker all the time." My already over-sized eyes grew ten times larger. Tyki-beautiful, sublime, angelic Tyki led a double life as a bum who wore pajama pants? It seemed impossible. Tyki was a god, his voice the kind that would bring even kings to their knees, his looks enough to make the Queen of England her self bow down and do anything to please him, so how could he also be a hobo? It was like finding out the drunk guy on the street corner is really a gallant hero, yet David had done me no service by cushioning the blow with a "_you'll never believe it_," or "_guess what?"._ I couldn't have faith in what they were saying, it was too mad of a concept, and yet I couldn't deny their claims either. I never spoke to Tyki, only admiring him from afar like one would when dealing with god like him. At least, I _thought_ he was a god.

"He keeps a deck of cards in his suit." David told me, not giving me enough time to catch my breath from the sudden shock. "He loves it. We want to beat him at it and show him who's boss." David and Jasdero gave me mischievous grins. "So you'll teach us how to play so we can kick his ass." It wasn't a question, it was a statement.

_It's not like I can lie to them... Or can I...? I could make up the rules... but they'd figure it out as soon as they faced Tyki... _"What does it matter if Tyki goes off and plays poker on his own?" I was amazed at my own gall, but the boys seemed more subdued than our earlier encounter, and I doubted David would swing his gun at me for the time being.

"_**What!?" **_Jasdevi burst, both boys jumping up and shoving they're faces, which were contorted in hideous expressions, inches away from mine. "What does it matter?! I matters a lot!" Jasdevi slowly moved back to their original positions, giving me more room to breath.

"A whole lot!" Jasdero added for emphasis.

"Why? How does it matter? How is beating him different than beating me in a game of cards?" At this question the two boys stopped. _I never knew the Noah had disputes among themselves... if only I could figure out why it bothers Jasdevi so much... maybe it's because they're jealous he's spending time away from the mansion with other people instead of them...? The Noah are like family... Road... Tyki...Skin... Lulu Bell... the Earl... they're the only family Jasdevi has, and I guess I can understand clinging to the only trace of family you've got. _My mind went back to how I had savored the feeling of having a name, _Sometimes, when you want something bad enough, I guess it doesn't matter how stupid it seems to pine over it..._

"_It's different._" David eyed me as if I was saying something idiotic. "Tyki... We **need** to beat him. Are you going to help us or not?"

"Well?!" Jasdero added.

_It's not like I actually have a choice... or like I actually can... _"Of course I'll assist you, my lord." _Wait... did I really just say that?! How am I going to do this! I don't have a clue want I'm doing...! _"The secret is to cheat."

"Cheat?"

"That's right, if you cheat, there's no way you can lose, no matter how long the other person's been playing." I tried to put on a confident mask. "It's the one sure fire way to defeat Tyki." Jasdevi nodded, waiting for me to go on. _Like I expected, they don't care what means they have to use in order to beat him... _"The best way to cheat is to be the dealer, that way you can arrange the cards while shuffling, and the other players will be none the wiser." Of course, I was just guessing, trying to figure out the most logical methods of cheating to a game I couldn't even play while the two boys watched me with the sharp eyes of a hawk watching it's pray. "If you can't be the dealer, you can use the fact that there are two of you to your advantage. Distract him if you're playing on the ground, but if you're playing at a table you don't have to-just slip cards to each under the table. You'll be able to exchange cards so that, even though one of you will lose, the other will still win and beat Tyki."

"I never thought of that!" David grinned. "Alright, this'll be simple!"

"It'll be simple!"

"Yep." I smiled, they had bought it without any questions asked. _I'm lucky that it wasn't __Road asking me how to beat Tyki... I doubt she'd be as easy to fool..._

"So what cards do we need to win?" David asked.

_Ouch... I was hoping he'd over look that detail... that's what I get for relaxing too soon... _"You need an ace." I told him, remembering the expression "always have an ace in the hole". _If it's considered good to have an ace in the hole, it must be a good card, right...? _"And a king and a queen." I went on, naming all the fanciest looking cards in a deck. "An ace, a king, a queen, a jack, and a joker."

"So if one of us gets those cards in our hand...?"

"You win." I concluded.

"The next time we see Tyki, he's going down!" The twins high fived each other. "...but for now I'm kinda hungry..." Jadero added with a whine.

"I'll go cook dinner." It was the ideal opportunity-I would make myself useful to them while also removing myself from the nauseating tension of the room, from the pressure of having to lie like my life depended on it (actually, it did).

"Alright, cool. I want a fried rice omelet." David placed his order.

"I want curry, really, _really_ spicy curry!" Jasdero told me.

_They don't want the same thing? That makes things more difficult... I just assumed they liked the same kinds of foods... _Though I had been working for the Noah for all of my akuma lifespan, I rarely cooked for one person in particular. It was always just, "make eggs, bacon, and toast for breakfast. Put a pound of sugar in Skin's unless you want to die." or "hamburgers for dinner, make Skin's a lollipop patty instead of meat, unless you want to die." _To think of it, it's always Skin modifying the menu... heh, if an akuma really did want to die, they'd have no trouble accomplishing that... _

"Alright. Fried rice omelet and spicy curry." I nodded. "I'll be back once it's done." _How spicy is really really spicy? If I make it too hot he won't be able to eat it, but if I don't make it hot enough he won't like it... and he did say "really" twice... and what's a fried rice omelet? Fried rice is Asian, isn't it? I was created in England... I have no clue about Asian dishes... _My head was a mess, throbbing from over thinking and the new stressful situation. _Did I really just jump into the lion's den to avoid the mouth of the lion...?_


	3. Chapter 3

In the main room, there hangs a painting of the Earl. Whenever I was sent to clean the room, I would gaze up at it and ponder who would paint such a thing, and if the Earl had killed them afterwards. Never the less, the horrid painting of the vile fat man intrigued me. Paintings have always caught the attention of my ever wandering mind, giving me an image to base my tales off of. It wasn't only painting that the lost traveler of my mind found tranquility in, but any creative act, truthfully. Art, music, and of course, cooking.

It was with that thought in mind that I turned on the oven, digging through the cabinets to find the right ingredients for Jasdevi's meal. _It's not like cooking can ever clear my mind, but at least the act of creating something will help my mind focus on something other than Jasdevi... _I pulled out the frying pan for David's omelet. _Then again, how distracted can I become when this meal could be my "last supper"? I don't even know how I should make Jasdero's curry...and I still don't know how I'd make a fried rice omelet. Should I just make a normal omelet and stuff it full of fried rice? Does David like his fried rice with vegetables and egg or without...?_

"Cooking?" I nearly dropped the pan, slowly turning around to face Road. "Don't look so surprised." She giggled, taking a step closer. "Did Jasdevi tell you to make them something to eat? It's only five, we eat dinner at seven, don't you know that?" There was something eerie in her voice, a threatening undertone beneath her supposedly harmless admonishing.

"I-I know." _How would Eliade handle this...? She had an ego bigger than I could ever have... She wouldn't let even Road intimidate her... Even if she followed their orders, she never seemed like a pushover, she was stronger than that... I never sensed an fear in those cold eyes of hers..._

"So why are you cooking...?" She smirked.

"They told me they were hungry."

"Alright." Road stuck her tongue out, "I won't tell this time."

Hesitantly, I started to cook, feeling her watchful golden eyes on the back of my head. I started with Jasdero's curry, hoping I could put off the troublesome omelet for as long as possible.

"So, why is it you can't remember your name?"

"My name? I remember it, Mistress, the name you and Lord Jasdevi gifted me with. My name is Rain Fantastico... or Fantastico Rain..."

"Not that, silly," Road gave another little laugh, "your _real_ name, the name the human who created your akuma self had."

_What's she talking about? Why would I know that person's name...? _I stopped cooking, a jar of spices in one of my hands as I stood completely still over Jasdero's half-made curry.

"Don't you remember being a level one akuma? When you would pretend to be that person and go about thoughtlessly killing?" Road went on.

"I remember..." I told her. "I remember... I was created, and then I killed. Lots of people..."

"But you don't recall your name?"

"No..." I never talked to the other akuma. The only one I had conversed with was Eliade, and I never asked her about her name, and she never questioned why I didn't have one... was it true that the other akuma had names? Had I really been left out of the circle, one single odd weapon out. _Some samurai would name their swords..._ I knew,_ so it shouldn't be that queer that an akuma, a weapon, has a name as well... _Akuma had names, genders, had pasts they could look back on... how could it all be, I wondered. _I thought Jasdevi had given me the two things all akuma wanted... that everyone of my kind desire but... did they just compensate for what I lacked, hand me the two things I rightfully deserve...? _"I don't know why, but the beginning of my life is kind of hazy." My voice was soft, shaking carefully. The day had presented me with too many obstacles, too many events in a life that should be devoted to only bloodshed.

"It's alright, that can happen sometimes." Road told me. "How's the curry coming?" I set myself back on track, forcing my eyes to stick to the bowl of curry in front of me, tipping my shaking hand so that the spices sprinkled in. "I'm going to go visit an exorcist tomorrow." Road went on, changing the topic, "I'm not telling the Earl, but I think it will be fun. I'm taking some level two akuma with me... you want to come along?"

"I've never fought an exorcist." I warned her.

"You're an akuma, it will come naturally."

"Alright." I grinned, "It's been too long since I killed someone last."

Road smiled, "We can't have that!"

"Road?" The kitchen door opened slowly, Tyki walking in, his hair still a mess around his face from sticking his head out the window, his eyes only glossing over me as he looked briefly around the room. His elegant narrow eyes hit upon my nervous figure for but a moment before moving on, my heart still beating like crazy as if his very gaze held it's own poison.

_And I'm not even a woman... how could any girl look into those eyes without her heart exploding?_ I gulped, looking away from Tyki to tend to Jasdero's curry. _Knowing them they won't want too wait long..._

"So you couldn't find Lero after all?" Tyki chuckled.

"No, I couldn't. I guess the Earl took Lero with him." I couldn't see her expression, but knowing Road she had put on one of her cute, childish pouts that would look almost innocent if not on her devilish gray face, on a mouth that shared the same face as the signature Noah stigmata.

"So why are you in the kitchen, then?" I could feel Tyki's sharp eyes move over to the back of my head, a shiver running up my spine as I finished up the curry and put it to the side, starting on the omelet for David, who seemed far less intimidating when compared to Tyki.

`"I heard Rain in here and wanted to see what he was doing." Road told him, using my name freely.

"Rain? I thought Jasdevi named it Fantastico..."

_Just hearing him say my name makes my heart skip... being in the same room as him puts me on edge... How could someone so handsome lead a double life as a hobo...?_

"It's Rain Fantastico." Road laughed, "Me and Jasdevi picked it out together."

"I see..." I could hear how stupid Tyki thought it was by the tone of his voice. "And why is he cooking?" He called me he, but I was sure it only did it because Road had.

"Jasdevi's hungry." Road answered for me. _Thank you, Road..._ I thought, keeping my back turned to the two Noah. _I don't think I could handle it if I actually had to have a conversation with Tyki... _

"So why is he cooking for them?"

"Look at it this way, if they eat early they won't sit with everyone at dinner, and that means no food fights tonight... I think I'll miss it, though." Road laughed.

"_I_ won't." Tyki assured her.

"Well, I'll see you later, Tyki, Rain!" Road suddenly ended the conversation, skipping out of the kitchen and pulling the door behind her soundlessly. For whatever reason, Road had decided to leave me along with Tyki. Road, who had saved me only moments ago by answering for me, had condemned me to being alone with Tyki, a fate I could do nothing to fight against.

_I have to finish David's omelet... _I tried to stay focused, hoping the twin's taste in food wasn't as picky as Skin's. _I can't leave until I do..._The awkward atmosphere was so thick I thought it would obscure my vision, and even though I had my backed turned to him I could almost see Tyki's confused expression. _He's probably questioning why Road just ditched him as much as I am... _A few seconds passed, almost as long as the eternity I had spent panicking while David pressed his gun to my head. _Maybe I should ask him about what Jasdevi said.. I was able to push my way in pretty far with them... maybe Tyki won't get offended if I dare to talk to him, either... and even in worse case scenario, he's not hot headed like Skin or Jasdevi... I doubt he'd just up and kill me... _I tried to remain calm, but my rapid twitching was subverting all my efforts. _Not just because I'm curious... for Jasdevi, too,_ I realized. _Right... it doesn't matter if they were just making up for the fact that I didn't have a name to __begin with, the fact is they gave me one, and more than that, even... They actually __**talked**__ to me, sought me out for advise on how to play poker... They __**trusted**__ me with their problem... They didn't just give me a name, they gave me an entire __**identity**__. They gave me a present that isn't just bloodshed and bullets. Eliade was my only friend but now... I can say that I have two more friends, as well... and even if we're not that close, I still have to cling to all the friends I have, just the way they cling to their handful of family... _

"My Lord," I let go of the frying pan and turned to face Tyki, my words gushing out of my mouth like a waterfall, my speech slurring as I rushed to get the sentence out before I could second think it. Tyki, who had just moved to grab the door, looked over his shoulder at me.

_"Hm?"_

_I can just say never mind, and have him forget this ever happened... _No, I couldn't, and in the depths of my mind I knew it, I knew all I could do was keep talking like I was a broken sink, letting the words come out before I had time to regret them. "My Lord, it seems you've upset Lord Jasdevi."

"Have I?" Tyki smirked, turning completely around and leaning against the door, crossing his arms over his chest and he looked at me with his beautiful, seductive eyes.

"I'm afraid you have." I tripped up on my words, making it sound more like _"I'mafriadyouhave". _"You see, sir, Jasdevi seems to be-_er_-lonely."

"Really?" Tyki chuckled, as if he was watching some sort of entertaining play unfold in front of him.

"Y-yes..."

"I find it hard to imagine they actually came out and said that." His voice was casual, holding no malice or ill intentions like the undertone of Road's sugary sweet voice, yet I couldn't be sure what lurked just beneath the surface of his trivial words.

"No, they didn't..." _I pray that he doesn't go and tell them I told him this!! I'm just trying to help... but knowing Jasdevi.. they'll take it as betrayal.... _I thought nervously. "but one can fill in the blanks."

"Fill in the blanks?" Tyki chuckled again in the same amused tone.

"Well, yes, my lord." I paused, finally stopping my rapid speech and letting my effrontery catch up with my mind. _I owe them at least this much but... no, I won't die... __**I don't think**__... But why does it feel different than it did before? When I was at Hell's gate with David's gun aimed to kill me, I felt so scared... I thought the end was coming and I was truly going to be destroyed... and that frightened me, maybe because I couldn't actually die, death frightened me to my core. I couldn't die, not the way I was. Someone, akuma or human, can't die unless they have a name. If not, they're just another nameless corpse that never even lived...Yet now, standing at these blazing gates once more, it feels more depressing then scary... I don't want to die, I don't want to die a__** somebody **__who became a __**nobody**__, that's almost as bad as being a nobody to begin with..._

"I think it would be wise of you to see to those two." The words had escaped my lips, taken flight into the air and gained a life of their own, and I would make no apology to kill them. _The least I can do is tell him that Jasdevi needs him... that's the least I can do..._ I braced myself, my hands bawled into fists. _If he choses to kill me, I'll gladly self destruct._ I thought, _but I'd rather he did it himself. What would it feel like to be killed by him? Killed by a god... killed by a vagabond... _


End file.
